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    [IMPORTANT UPDATE] New Subscription Tiers + Readers Library Now Live as of October 3, 2025

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    • Lily Garden
      Lily Garden Member @wanderer_1204 last edited by

      @wanderer_1204 you make a good point, New York Comic Con is this weekend and JNC has a panel today so the team is probably scrambling to get things in order for that.

      I am confident that there will be people attending the panel who will make our displeasure at the communication regarding the changes known to JNC in person; so I am going to withhold judgment until after

      “There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

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        niq Premium Member last edited by

        I'm not sure if it's a good or bad change. Catchups did allow us to quickly read a novel up to its current volume and just keep reading prepubs from that point, even after it goes out of catchups. I got quite a lot of good reads from that. If the reader's club only get novels after they're complete it won't be possible anymore.

        Well, I guess it just depends on how fast novels get completed and added to the club.

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        • Referenced by  G GeorgeMTO 
        • radiantmemories
          radiantmemories Member last edited by

          This is really disappointing. Monthly Catchups are at least half of why I have a subscription, and keep me coming back to the site. Considering cancelling my membership now, as it's half the value for the same price.

          Hello stranger!

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            Neshura 0 @Lily Garden last edited by

            @Lily-Garden well the weekend (and NY Comic Con) is now over, they had the time to post the Announcement Recap but still silence here.

            If they keep this up I might just cancel anyway, I'm really not in the mood of having this repeat at some point in the future and they are not showing any signs of improvement.

            Lily Garden 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • Lily Garden
              Lily Garden Member @Neshura 0 last edited by

              @Neshura-0 Monday was a holiday in the US so I'm going to give them a bit more time

              “There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

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                degeneratesock Member last edited by degeneratesock

                Is there any intention among JNC staff to actually address any of these complaints? Or are we just supposed to take the silence as the message? A demonstration of exactly how thoroughly they intend to ignore their customers?

                Lily Garden 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                • Lily Garden
                  Lily Garden Member @degeneratesock last edited by Lily Garden

                  @degeneratesock I heard from @Rahul-Balaggan (forum moderator) that our frustrations and concerns have been passed up the chain

                  I specified our current dissatisfaction with the silence , so JNC staff do know we are expecting a response as soon as possible

                  “There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

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                    Planguy Premium Member last edited by

                    I got a monthly subscription that automatically updates. The newest coins that I got with the this month only gave me 699 coins. My subscription automatically updated to the new system, with the lessened privileges associated with it. So shouldn't I have got the 799 coins instead?

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                    • Serah
                      Serah Premium Member @Lily Garden last edited by

                      @Lily-Garden said in [IMPORTANT UPDATE] New Subscription Tiers + Readers Library Now Live as of October 3, 2025:

                      @degeneratesock I heard from @Rahul-Balaggan (forum moderator) that our frustrations and concerns have been passed up the chain

                      I specified our current dissatisfaction with the silence , so JNC staff do know we are expecting a response as soon as possible

                      I truly hope when there is a reply, that there is an actual email reaching out to everyone whom concern.

                      Not just to those who subscribed to the newsletter.

                      Not just as a forums post for those who are here checking the forums.

                      Not just an entry somewhere on the website.

                      But an actual information email which describes in detail the change to the system to everyone who is currently subscribing to the JNC service as member and premium member.

                      Anything less is not enough and certainly not fair.

                      Sorry for my bad English - it is not my native language
                      Give Pens Down, Swords Up: Throw Your Studies to the Wind a try. It is that good! ♡(>ᴗ•)
                      I like it as much as Realist Hero ♡

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                        Aquantis Member @Planguy last edited by

                        @Planguy it doesn't auto-update the old premium. If you were on auto-renew old premium, it will renew as the old premium tier until you upgrade to the new premium tier. you will get 699 coins, as you are on the old sub. If you want 799 coins a month, then upgrade to the new premium tier (its $1/month).

                        technically, it is cheaper to stay on the old tier and just buy the coin difference, but not by much.

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                          Planguy Premium Member last edited by Planguy

                          Well that's actually just cheating people. If I'm signed up for a service that doesn't actually exist and I'm on an auto renew subscription it should just cancel the subscription. I don't buy coins, I just use the coins that I get with my subscription, even if it would be more efficient to buy coins. The only thing I'm interested in buying is my subscription and the associated coins that come with it, I am not interested in buying coins in addition to that. I was signed up with the understanding that the subscription would be enough to buy a book a month.

                          Yep, this is it. I'm going to cancel my subscription to this service. It was worth my money previously. It isn't anymore.

                          Edit- I should specify. If my old sub was canceled because it was no longer going to be enough to get me what I wanted, enough coins to get a book a month, I would have been perfectly happy to re sign up on my own initiative under the new more expensive subscription. These sub shenanigans seem like a way to milk money from people. I think this is predatory and unethical.

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                            Aquantis Member @Planguy last edited by

                            @Planguy I the new post on the main page (and the forum post) it mentions that they are not auto-updating people because the new tier costs more. the tiers that did not change price were automatically moved over. Since the premium changed price, Jnovel cannot auto-move you to the new tier. you have to agree to the price change.

                            You think the poor way the announcement was made made people angry over it was bad? If they auto-upgraded everyone on the premium tier to the new premium tier, they would have lawsuits and lost people in droves. It is illegal for them to change you to a higher priced tier without your consent. They literally cannot auto upgrade you without breaking the law.

                            The only difference between the old premium tier and the new one is the number of coins you get each month and the cost of the tiers. They are identical besides that. Jnovel was generous and left the old tier alone instead of forcing everyone to get a different tier by canceling it. I like that I don't have to upgrade if I don't want to (not happy about other things, but that I do like).

                            I do wish we would have been emailed about the change, but sadly, only those who get the newsletter got any email warning. I found out form people posting on the forums. or I would have had no clue.

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                              niq Premium Member @Aquantis last edited by

                              @Aquantis I beg to differ. If it's OK for Netflix to increase prices without asking you, why would it be illegal for JNC? The only thing that they're required to do is to inform everyone in advance and allow them to cancel their subscription if they wish to avoid the price increase.

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                              • jpwong
                                jpwong Premium Member @niq last edited by

                                @niq The reason they are not auto updating people is because the difference between the legacy tier and the new tier is $1, and you get 100 extra coins which as full retail price is $1. So while yeah, they could have simply upgraded everyone to the new tier, they're allowing people to choose if/when they want to upgrade since the two tiers are technically equivalent to each other. The slight difference in the legacy tier being of higher value comes from the cost difference in buying coins at the discount the tier provides.

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                                  Aquantis Member @niq last edited by

                                  @niq Thats apples to oranges.
                                  Netflix and Disney+ both sent out advanced notices to their users about the price change. They also did not auto-upgrade users to a new version of their service. They sent out a notice that the tier the user was on would be going up. They sent out notices about new tiers. At no point did they change the tier you were on and always sent advanced notice.
                                  If the tier itself was different, then neither Netflix or Disney would have auto-upgraded you to a new tier, it would have been canceled. That is because if the tiers are different they cannot change it without your consent.

                                  JNC had a tier that changed names, so auto moved those users over. Nothing changed in the tier except the coin discount (which JNC could change even if i don' like it). It was not a price change.

                                  JNC did not auto-move over the premium members because they needed to give enough advanced notice for that to be legal. If they just added more coins, it would be fine, as you get more, but are not paying more. But they can't increases the price without telling you far enough in advance (which did not happen).
                                  They could have canceled our memberships and told us we had to sign up for the new tier, as the old one was gone. JNC did not do this, instead they said the old premium tier is locked (so no new subs, and if you leave you can't come back), but will remain for now as it was, but with the coin discount matching the new tier's discount of 10% down from 15% (I want my discount back). I like they did this, as it means I don't have to debate whether or not I keep my tier or cancel due to costs (we all have a budget). I do not know how long our locked legacy tier will be around for, but its nice to have some time to think about thing and if I want to change my tier.

                                  Across the board there was a 5% loss of coin discount (which I do not like). This was not tier specific. All paying tiers lost 5% of the discount they had. Due to the ToS, this is something allowed.

                                  Catch-ups were always an added bonus on the tiers (that we hoped were permanent, but alas, were not), so there was always a chance they would go away one day. If you look at the old FAQ, catch-ups were never mentioned in the tier benefits list. They were just a bonus on the site for any member, and were not tied to any tier. On the how it works page, they were listed as a bonus, but under what each membership gets, the catch-ups were not listed. Since these were always presented as a bonus, them going away is just no longer receiving that bonus. So that loss does not change what the tiers give you.
                                  You never know, we may get a different bonus occasionally added (I could see X anime is now streaming, here's vol 1 of LN and/or manga to read, but only while the season is airing, to get people interested in reading about the show the are watching).

                                  Am I upset at the loss of discount and lack of notice, yes. I am not going to be upset at JNC for not auto-changing my tier, as I understand why they didn't. I actually like they didn't as I don't have to deal with re-budgeting my expenses (well, until I buy coins, but I would have to do that anyway) until I need to.
                                  I fully understand why you would be upset that you don't get a full book each month now in coins. Thankfully that is easily fixed buy changing to the new premium tier or by just buying the coins you are missing (which is $0.10 cheaper). The notification of the changes was poorly done and easily could lead someone to think that they were in a a tier that was being auto moved to its new equivalent. There is also a sale going on right now of some titles, so you can get a book and have some coins leftover if one of the ones you want is on the sale list.

                                  I try to look on the positive side of things, though it is not easy at times. I find it much easier to get through the day that way. Hopefully I can share some of that positivity with everyone.

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                                    niq Premium Member @Aquantis last edited by

                                    @Aquantis You said it yourself - If they'd given an advance notice, they could've just said the price is going to increase by $1/mo, no need for a special legacy tier.

                                    That said, I think that the real price increase comes from the retirement of the catchups, because you used to get it included and now you have to pay separate. Assuming you want to have a similar experience to what you had so far, I would argue that the new equivalent of the old regular membership tier is the "Reader's Club Membership", $7.95/mo vs $4.95/mo, or 60% price increase, and the equivalent of the old premium membership is the "Premium Reader's Club Membership", $14.95/mo vs $10.95/mo, or 36% price increase. That's quite a lot.

                                    Also, I'm not really sure how the reader's club would even compare to catchups.
                                    Right now there are 51 series fully available at the club, spanning a total of 316 volumes, an average of 6 volumes per title. I'm not including titles that only have the first 3 volumes available, because I don't consider it as a way reading a full series without paying extra like catchups offered. Assuming you actually like around half of the available titles, you'd probably read the entire current library in less than a year, so it comes down to how often new titles would be added in the future, which is yet to be seen, but right now there are 37 completed series not in the library yet (not including manga), and 27 on hiatus not yet available, so 64 titles total that they can add in the future, plus whatever series complete (which does not happen that too often), and I doubt they'd add their flag novels like Bookworm to the library.
                                    So, the Reader's membership might be worth it for a few months now, but I think eventually you'd exhaust it and downgrade.

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